What Kind of Values does Today’s Teachers Must Have? Part 4

We are continuing our search of how to make the right decisions to the dilemmas not only in our own lives but when we face the dilemmas of today’s children in our schools. We already faced two examples about Gary and the Hunt family. I wonder how you did in solving them? What was your right decisions?

Another quality of trustworthy is integrity. Webster’s dictionary says that it is the quality of being honest and fair like “He’s a man of the highest integrity.”For the child to understand, it is a “the condition of being free from damage or defector total honesty and sincerity.” The person of integrity takes time for self-reflection or self-examination so that they stay in control of the things that happen (events), crises of the day and the pressure of circumstances. However, there are things that may get in the way like:

Self-interest— Things we want. I would like to go on more cruises. I want this website to do well and to hope for more teachers to read this article on values.

Self-protection — Things we don’t want. I do not want to be disappointed in myself or be angry or let anxiety run me over and cause my behavioral to change.

Self-deception — A refusal to see a situation clearly. I want to have that clear reasonable decision to help others.

Self-righteousness— An end-justifies-the-means attitude. I don’t want to be narrowly minded or be convinced of one’s own righteousness especially in contrast with the actions and beliefs of others.

What would you do about Larry’s scenario?

Larry is the Department of Children and Families representative in your state who inspects and checks the qualification training records of staff. This one particular school Larry knows the director, Grace, quite well. It seems he has a crush on her, too. Other staff members can see the glow on his face, when Grace shows him the areas of the school. When Larry inspects the files, he notices that several staff are not up-to-date with their certifications including Grace. Larry seems to not take it seriously and he overlooks the records and does not mention it to Grace. Of course, Grace knows her records along with the other staff members are not up-to-date.

Question: You saw this happen and you know Grace has discussed to the staff to get those trainings done. What is the right decision for you about Grace or Larry? Does integrity take place in your conscious?

In our next segment, we will look at another quality of trustworthiness: “reliability.”